Carpenter&#39;s jointing fulcruming device



INVENTOR. Valk/VON L. Axl/V652.

Jan. 28, 1958 v. L. LAsslNGl-:R

CARPENTERS JOINTING FULCRUMING DEVICE Filed oct'. 27, 1954 2,821,358 CARPENTERS JOINTING FULCRUMING DEVICE Vernon L. Lassinger, Saxonburg, Pa. Application October 27, 1954, Serial No. 464,937 4 Claims. (Cl. 254-17) My invention relates to clamps that will. serve as fulcrums for use by carpenters in laying flooring or siding, in order to enable the carpenters to force each board into snug fitting edgewise engagement with the preceding board.

My invention has for its object the provision of a clamp of such form that it can readily be moved along a joist or studding, step-by-step, in order to serve as a fulcrum, and wherein the gripping or clamping member or members are readily adjustable to joists, etc., of widely varying thicknesses, the gripping action being automatically applied by the lever which is used to force the boards together.

As shown in the accompanying drawing,

Figure l is a plan view of one form of tool;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end view;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing a modication of the structure of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is an end view of the structure of Fig. 4 oriented through 9() degrees.

Referring first to Figs. l, 2 and 3, a joist or studding is indicated by the numeral 6 and a floor board or sheathing by the numeral 7. The next board to be laid is shown at 8. A pusher block 9 is used in forcing the board 8 snugly against the board 7, to avoid injury to the board 8 by the operating lever or bar shown at 10.

The fulcrum apparatus comprises a body member 11 threaded for a portion of its length and slidably supporting a circular gripping plate 12. A circular gripping plate 13 has screw-threaded engagement with the bar 11, in order to adjust it to joists 6, etc., of various thicknesses.

A camming plate 14 is pivotally mounted at 15 on the bar 11 and has a stop pin 16 that limits pivotal movement of the member 14. The inner end of the member 14 has camming surfaces 17 which will force the plate 12 toward the plate 13 when the member 14 is swung into parallelism with the bar 11, to thereby grip the joists 6.

When the clamping apparatus is positioned upon a joist in proximity to the board such as 8 and a presser block 9, the plate 14 will be swung in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot, to place a low area of its camming surface 17 into engagement with the plate 12. The lever is then placed between the member 14 and the block 9 and swung in a direction to rock the plate 14 in a clockwise direction about its pivot, thereby causing the joists to be tightly gripped between the plates 12 and 13. The plate 14 and the bar 11 thereby serve as a fulcrum, so that upon further swinging movement of the lever, the block 9 and the board 8 will be pushed rmly toward the board 7, to straighten warped boards or to complete a tongue-and-groove tit. The shape of the camming surfaces 17 of the plate 14 permits the apparatus to be used either right-handed or left-handed or from either side of a joist.

Fulcruming areas are provided at 14a and 14h on the camming plate 14 for levers such as 10. The areas 14a will facilitate the laying of diagonally-positioned boards such as sheathing or sub-flooring.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, clamping plates 18 and 19 are slidably mounted upon a bar 20 for gripping a joist 21, the adjustment to joists of various thicknesses States Patent O Patented Jan. 28, 1958 being effected by a tooth 22 in the plate 19 engaging with teeth 23 on one edge of the bar 20 that extends through the plates 18 and 19.

A spring yieldably urges the plate 19 in a direction to eifect toothed engagement at 22-23. In this case, the camming member 25 that is pivotally connected at 26 to the bar 20 operates in only one direction (clockwise), to effect tight gripping of the joist after the plates 18 and 19 have been initially moved against its sides.

A stop pin 27 limits swinging movement of the camming member 25. A lever 28 will be inserted between the cam plate 25 and a pusher block 29 and operated to move the boards tightly together as in Fig. l. The lever 28 is here shown as pivotally connected at 30 to the camming plate so as to always be available. This pivotal connection, of course, is not essential.

Another difference between the structure of Figs. 1 and 4 is that in Fig. 4, the plates 18 and 19 are of rectangular shape and are recessed at 31 and 32 to provide seats for the pusher block 29. A stop pin 20a prevents accidental displacement of the plate 19 from the bar 20.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for use in laying boards, comprising a lever, a body member of elongated form adapted to be placed crosswise upon a joist or the like, a pair of gripping plates disposed transversely on said member and movable longitudinally thereof, means for adjusting one of the plates to longitudinally-set positions on the body member, a camming plate pivotally mounted on the body member, in position to move the other gripping plate toward the said one plate, to thereby place them in clamping engagement with the opposite faces of a joist or the like across which the body member extends, and a bearing surface on the cam plate, engageable by the lever in position to serve as a fulcrum to cause the cam plate to shift the movable gripping plate to clamping position when the lever is placed between said surface and a board and then tilted.

2. Fulcrum apparatus for use in laying boards, comprising a body member of elongated form, a pair of gripping plates disposed transversely thereof and slidably carried thereby, means for adjusting one of the plates to longitudinallyset positions on the body member, and a camming plate pivotally mounted on the body member, in position to move the other gripping plate toward the said one plate, to thereby place them in clamping engagement with the opposite faces of a joist or the like, the camming plate having lever-engaging surfaces at opposite edges, that serve as fulcrums, and two oppositelydisposed camming areas.

3. Fulcrum apparatus for use in laying boards, comprising a body member of elongated form, a pair of gripping plates disposed transversely thereof and slidably carried thereby, means for adjusting one of the plates to longitudinally-set positions on the body member, in po sition to move the other gripping plate toward the said one plate, to thereby place them in clamping engagement with the opposite faces of a joist or the like, the camming plate having two fulcruming surfaces that are selectively engageable by a lever, at different distances from the said pivotal mounting.

4. Fulcrum apparatus as recited in claim l, wherein the adjustable gripping plate has threaded engagement with the body member, for adjustment longitudinally thereof.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,239,306 Sanderson Sept. 4, 1917 2,113,852 Meade Apr. 12, 1938 2,682,694 Kempkes July 6, 1954 

